Chaos
by Ishballa
Summary: Two years have passed since the Space Lords encountered the newfound enemy; The Black Scar of Chaos. Now the soldiers of Light are thrown into their most destructive war yet, which threatens their friends, family and very way of life.  Part 2 of 4
1. The Domain of Chaos

**The Domain of Chaos.**

He looked out over the barren wasteland. Argana Reptan stood at the front of his five man squad. Each one of them held their boltguns ready. Stooping down to the ground, Argana rubbed his hand over the ground, gave a sniff or the air, and growled to himself. Private Daggan suddenly stepped out of the group of soldiers to join Argana at the front.

"What is it, my Lord?" said Daggan, with a hiss, "have we caught their scent?"

"Yes. They were here not that long ago," replied Argana.

"Why do we need to find them, Sir? Does our great Lord believe that they could change the prophecy if they live?"

"That's exactly what he believes. And I know why. Citrus. Belial fears that Citrus will be able to stop Mace from changing."

"Then why do we not hurry. We all want to destroy them. The men want blood."

"And they will get it. I too wish to go to the enemy and slaughter them."

"Then which way do we go?" asked Daggan.

"Follow me," replied Argana, and he began to move with demonic speed off towards the East.

-X-

"Move quicker everyone," called Commander Citrus, his voice rasping "we can't let them catch up with us!"

Himself, Corporal Skree, Captain Mace, Sergeant Carma, Sergeant Torosa Corporal Brom, Corporal Zendra and Corporal Mascoa were being tracked. Since the Crogcrags had been beaten back to their home planet of Corosa, a new enemy had emerged; The Chaos Space Lords. Armour as strong as a Spine Back Scorpion's skin, weapons as powerful as an air strike and their knowledge of the Space Lords themselves was greater than the Scholars around in the days when the Space Lords first originated.

And now they were close to finishing Citrus's squad. Brom had lost his right hand whilst being tortured by the enemy forces, and during a rescue mission to save Brom, Skree had been shot in the leg. All of them were worn out, except Mace – who was still able to go on due to the mechanical systems inside him.

"We can't rest," said Citrus as Torosa collapsed to his knees exhausted, "we're out in the middle of the Xiboe dessert. If the enemy doesn't catch up with us, then we're sure to be finished off by any creature that comes across us out here."

"Set up a teleport beacon for the ship to track, to transport us out of here," said Mace quickly.

"We don't have enough time to set up one. Those soldiers of Chaos will reach us long before its ready," replied Citrus.

"Don't worry about them, just how long do you need," asked Mace.

Citrus looked at his friend, understanding what he was saying.

"As long as you can give us," he asked, "just come back."

"Right, radio me when it's set up and they're ready to beam us up. I'll send you my co-ordinates to be teleported up as well, just don't take long."

"O.K. Mascoa and Zendra keep watch, alert me the second you see movement. Do not let anything pass. I'll set up the beacon, Torosa you can help me, and Carma you sort out Skree and Brom."

"I'll do what I can," said Mace, and he walked off into the dessert from the direction they came, as night began to fall.


	2. Transformation

Transformation.

Everything around Mace was covered in pitch black darkness. There were no moons orbiting the planet Tantixa, and he didn't dare ignite his Light Orb or even turn on his night vision as they would give off enough light to give him away. He had been searching for over an hour now, and still hadn't found any sign of the enemy. However, as he listened more intently, he thought he could hear screams and insane laughter in the distance.

Off in the distance he began to see a small glow, like the one given off by a Gravity Orb. Since they had neutralised the Crogcrags, all of the men had had a promotion, and miraculously all been lucky enough to still be in the same squad. Yet now as their ranks were sufficient enough for them to be Dark Veterans, Mace now wielded a command pistol and a power sword.

As he drew closer to where the light was he saw the shape of the Chaos Space Lords, but then suddenly another creature swooped down and grabbed hold of an enemy soldier, plucking it off the ground like an eagle taking hold of its' prey. Mace ducked down behind one of the tents in the camp. The Chaos Space Lords had been ambushed by hundreds of Dessert Witches. The air was so thick with them it was almost impossible to breathe. Like the Greek mythological creatures, thousands of centuries ago, from the plant Earth, the Dessert Witches resembled the body of a Furies and the head of a Phoenix moulded into one body. Their bat like wings carried them around the camp set up by the forces of Chaos, flying them over any and finishing them off if they became separated from the group that had been formed. The air filled with smoke as more and more boltgun bullets were fired.

As the fight continued some Witches flew off, not willing to risk their lives anymore. Then, out of nowhere, giant forks of lightning began to spurt from a staff one of the soldiers on the ground was holding. Screams began to echo as the remaining Dessert Witches began to fall from the sky and land dead upon the ground.

Soon there were no more of the creatures and the air became breathable again. Mace had seen enough, believing that he didn't need to slow down the enemy as it would take time for them to regain their strength. He turned on the spot and began to creep silently away.

Suddenly, after he'd taken about one step, his legs were grasped by a Dessert Witch, who bared its talons and sunk them in through the armour and into the skin. Mace held back the yell that was now balanced on the edge of his tongue. He reached for his knife, but failing to take hold of it he saw he had only one way of escaping. With his mechanical hand he took hold of the creatures' head and simply squeezed. The Witch let out an agonising scream, which Mace tried to silence by clutching the mouth of the creature, but he wasn't fast enough. As the creature fell silent, and its blood stained the sand Mace heard a voice.

"Atselec, go and see what that noise was," said the voice.

"Right away, my lord," came a reply, who Mace suspected was the one named Atselec.

"Wait!" There was a long pause and Mace guessed that their leader had just spoken, "There's no need to go and get him. He'll come to us. He already trusts us."

There was another long pause. Then the same voice spoke again.

"Come on out now. Come out, Mace. You want revenge, so come and join us. Join Chaos and have revenge for what your _friends_ did to you."

Mace wanted vengeance. His mind had become so twisted by what had been said to him in the past by the forces of Chaos that he could feel himself going mad as he tried to fight off the growing desire of revenge. He closed his eyes and thought. But when he next opened them he was no longer Mace on the inside. He had been consumed.

-X-

He stood up from behind the tent, wincing in pain as he did. After straightening up, he took a deep breath, and Mace stepped slowly out from behind his cover and faced his new allies.

"What do you want of me?" he asked with a snarl. His remaining human eye had changed to a piercing blood red colour and his voice had become like the scraping of metal upon metal.

"We need you to work as a spy for us, until the time is right," whispered a voice that Mace had not heard for a long time.

Slowly the flames from the fires around the camp began to darken, as a blackish mist began to swirl around the tips of them; being moulded... shaped together into a figure. As the mists grew greater in size as well as becoming increasingly opaque, the Chaos soldiers around him began to kneel, showing their respect to their grand leader. The mists picked up speed and started to pull the dead bodies of the Dessert Witches in towards it like an immense bulking creature drawing in food with great sweeping arms.

As the mists began to clear, the figure of the Chaos Space Lord God, Belial, stepped out, and the mists and flames dispersed.

The God of Chaos looked at Mace for a good few moments through the piercing blood red lends of his helmet. Mace felt like he was being scanned to see whether he was speaking the truth.

"Will you carry out this and any other task set out before you?" said Belial.

"I will," replied Mace.

"Will you forsake your loyalty to your friends, your 'God of Light' and swear allegiance to the Black Scar of Chaos?"

"I will."

"Will you join me at my side and take command as the God of Chaos if I fall in battle?"

"I will."

"And if I should fall at any time, and command is given to you, will you continue to follow the path that is now laid before you?"

Mace looked up this time into the eyes of his new master.

"I will."

"Then, now, you will be known as Mace, Lord of Terror.

Mace stood up straight.

"What is your will, master?"

"You are to tell Citrus what happened here, except you will also tell him that you heard about where I am currently hiding. Say to him that the main leaders of Chaos are at this time, in the city of Esuoh Yab, on the planet Malai. Advise Citrus to inform the Council and send their forces to the city, so as to wipe out our commanders. The Great Lord, Naganemnom, will choose to come and destroy me himself, and that is when I strike. I shall destroy him and leave the Space Lords power and leaderless."

"It shall be done, sir."

"Then go Mace, and bring destruction. And when the time is right, let them know who you really are."

-X-

Naganemnom opened his eyes. The clock next to him read 19:36. He had been meditating in the Hall of Peace, and was now awake. He brought his hands up and rubbed his face, so as to clear his vision some more. He stared at the blank walls around him, and struck a thinking pose; pondering to himself.

"I need to speak to Citrus," he whispered to himself, "he needs to know what must be done."

He clicked his fingers and instantly the walls turned to glass. Naganemnom looked out through the giant window of the tower, round at the city of Oiprocs. The Tower of Dawn gave full view of the city to someone if they were right at the pinnacle. He could see the sun starting to slither behind the Aidni Mountains in the West. He gazed over the city and let his eyes carry themselves to the Caidoz River to the East of the metropolis.

"It's coming. It can't be stopped. And this… is where it ends. But, not with a bang or a crash, but with a whimper."

Then, suddenly there was a flash of light behind him. Naganemnom turned round to face the newcomer, and smiled.

"So, you've finally come," Naganemnom said to them, looking over at the clock which now read 19:40. "Where is it we are heading?"

Then, the flash of light returned and the room was completely empty. Ten seconds passed. The sun continued to just slowly slide down behind the mountains. Everything was peaceful.

At that moment, out of no-where, the flash of light appeared. When it had faded, Naganemnom was standing in the tower again. He glanced over at the clock.

"19:41," he said to him self quietly, "Its true. I've been gone for two years, and yet only a minute has passed here."

He looked back out across the city, wishing that everything he had seen would never come, but knowing that it was all inevitable. He sighed and closed his eyes.

"There's still hope," he whispered, as the sun drifted slowly out of view.

-X-

Being trapped in the middle of a dessert was one thing, but when their communications equipment started to become defective, it really pissed Citrus and his men off. Torosa was sitting in front of the transport beacon, examining the wires and systems inside it, whilst Citrus tried to contact Mace to obtain his planetary coordinates.

"Shit!" yelled Torosa, as one of the electrical systems in the beacon exploded in his face.

"What is it?" asked Carma.

"The power core's just blown! There's no way of contacting the battle cruiser without a new one, but we don't have one powerful enough. The only one that would work for us now is the one powering Mace's eye!"

"If it determines whether we live or die then I'm defiantly up for it," cried out Mace, as he ran towards them all out of the surrounding darkness.

"Mace!" shouted Torosa, "quickly, take out your eye and chuck it here!"

Skidding to a halt, and sending dust everywhere, Mace reached up to his left eye, turned it until it clicked, and he could pull it out of its socket. Tossing it to Torosa, who caught it and began to strip it to the core, Mace turned and began helping Carma finish restoring Skree and Brom to a better state.

"Citrus," he said quickly, "they weren't far behind me; we need to leave now!"

"Torosa," Citrus called out. He had switched on the night vision lends on his helmet, and was now scanning the encircling shadows. He could just begin to see shapes moving across the earth towards them, "How long?"

"It should take another minute."

"That had better be all, as any longer and they'll be here."

Mace quickly finished off bandaging Skree's blood covered leg, and then grabbing his pistol, made ready for the enemy in case everything went down the drain.

They could start to hear the shouts and yells from the oncoming mass of shadows.

"TOROSA!" shouted Citrus, "you done yet?"

"Done in three, two, one," he said at the top of his voice, just as he finished with the last wire. Hastily, he slammed the door of the beacon closed as it burst into light.

"Delta Romeo, this is Tango Foxtrot twelve, requesting emergency transport from beacon at coordinates; sigma, sixty, kilo, mike. Do you read me?" bellowed Citrus into the radio system he'd finally got working.

"I hear you number twelve. Transport is in ten seconds, stand by for my mark." came the reply, which was barely audible.

"Make ready, men."

Carma was standing right next to Citrus with a rifle deep in his shoulder, ready to fire. One of the enemies had broken off from the rest of the group and was racing towards them at a much greater speed. Picking the new target and taking aim, Carma steadied the rifle as he held his breath, and gently squeezed the trigger. The bang lingered on, pressing down on the men's ears more and more. The shot had been a direct hit, and just in time as well, as the beacon released a high pitched tone.

"Number twelve," came the voice from the radio Citrus held, "Welcome back to the Light."


	3. What the Future Holds

What the Future Holds.

Citrus watched the enemy space craft from the command bridge of the battle cruiser, Death Raptor. Since arriving aboard the ship, the whole place had been at battle stations. However, as Citrus and Fleet Admiral Stark watched the enemy, they notice that the ship was turning away.

"What are they doing?" Citrus thought to himself.

Just as he finished saying this, the enemy vessel jumped to hyperspace, and was now gone.

"Why did they leave?" wondered Stark out loud, "they never run from a fight, even if they know that they have no chance they always battle, so why choose to disappear?"

"I don't know. Something's not right." Citrus replied.

Just at that moment, one of the midshipmen came running up to them.

"Commander Citrus, sir. I have a request from Captain Mace. He wishes to speak with you urgently about some information, which may prove useful in the war effort, sir."

"Thank you, Smith. I'll go see him now."

-X-

The medical ward aboard the battle cruiser was in mint condition as though the ship had never seen a single battle. The beds had few occupants, even now, when Skree and Brom had arrived to fully recover from their injuries. One of the doctors was fixing up Brom. They were attaching his nervous system to the new mechanical hand, since the loss of his human one left him a bit more dependent on others. Every time they connected up one of the nerves, Brom clenched his teeth, as he winced in pain. Mace watched the soldier from the other side of the room with his newly replaced robotic eye. He felt lucky that he had been unconscious whilst he'd had parts of his body replaced in the same way. Then again, although they came with their advantages, Mace wished he still had his complete human form. As he sat, and tested his new vision, Mace spotted Citrus coming over to him. He must have received the message Mace had asked the midshipman, Smith, to give to him.

"Sir, over here," he said, raising a hand to make sure he got his attention.

Citrus walked over to where Mace was sitting.

"You wanted to see me, Mace?"

"Yes. I have some important information, which you may find useful."

"Would it be better to go somewhere quieter, so no-one over hears this. They did say that they had our own soldiers turning and joining them, without us even knowing."

"Yeah, that would probably be safer."

Both he and Citrus left the medical ward in search of an empty room to discuss what Mace had to say.

"Mace," asked Citrus as they walked along, "I'm sorry to ask, but… do you have any doubts about any of the men in our company? I mean with them turning and joining the enemy."

"I… I don't really… know, sir. None of them seem like they'd fall victim to the enemy's influence."

"I hope you're right. I trust them, but I just worry. You understand, right?"

"I do, sir. But, you shouldn't let those years come back and affect you, not again."

"You're right. This one looks okay," Citrus said gravely as they past an empty room.

They both stepped inside and closed the door behind them. Inside the room were a few chairs and two tables. Choosing spots opposite each other, they sat down.

"So, what was it that you wished to speak with me about?"

"I know where they are."

"What? Where 'who' are?"

"The leaders of Chaos. They're on the planet Malai, in the city of Esuoh Yab."

"H… wha… h… how? How did you find out where they were?" replied Citrus, overwhelmed at what he'd just heard.

"Well, I was outside their camp, when I started to hear voices speaking about where their forces were using as a base of operations."

As Mace told of what happened and of what he heard, a smile grew across Citrus' face more and more. If they gathered a large enough force, they could wipe out they enemy's leaders and end the war!

"That's brilliant Mace. Thank you, so much for this information. It needs to be passed on to the court straight away. I'll have the ship return back home this very second. Thank you, once again Mace. We can now end this god forsaken war."

Citrus jumped up and bolted out of the door in the direction of the command bridge. It would finally end. Mace walked over to the door in time to see Citrus disappear. He smiled, slyly, to himself.

"Try as much as you can Citrus," he muttered to himself, "Whatever happens now from this point onwards, is all your own doing. You best be prepared to accept that fact."

-X-

"What is it that you plan on doing now, my lord?" yelled Lord Nasher his blood reaching boiling point. "The enemy is gaining control of more and more of the planets through out the empire, and our destroying everything that remains. After claiming a city, they wipe it from all existence, disintegrating all of it. Even the bodies of civilians and our soldiers are destroyed, so we are unable to give them a proper burial. What do you plan to do to stop them now?"

"Do you not believe that I am doing everything in my power, to end this war, Nasher?" High Lord Romana shouted back, "We have no useful enemy Intel, other than that coming from the front line; and even then, the amount of information that's coming from our men is quickly diminishing as more and more of them are being killed before they can report it!"

"Sir, even that information is completely useless. Yet, when we act in accordance to the Intel, none of it gives us a lead on the whereabouts of the enemy's leaders," said Lord Vorok cautiously, unwilling to get on the bad side of his master.

"Well, even though we aren't getting anywhere with winning this war, we are still doing everything that's possible."

There was a knock on the large wooden door at the end of the courtroom. The sound echoed throughout the hall, and all the Lords of the court looked towards the door as it was opened, and a messenger stepped in.

"High Lord Romana," said the messenger as he ran up to the end at which Romana sat, "I have urgent news from Task Force number 12. One of their troops, Captain James Kronos Mace, has information on the location at which the enemy's leaders are residing."

Each of the Lords of the court stood on the spot, flabbergast.

"I… I can't… believe it!" stuttered Lord Nasher, "it can't be reliable, this information."

"It's true. The information that Mace has for us is the one that we've been waiting for," said a voice from the shadows. All of the people inside the court turned to where the voice had emanated from. The outline of a figure moved into the light that filled the room. Naganemnom smiled at them all. He wore a robe, similar to that of a roman senator. His face was both thin and long, and very pale, but despite this, he always looked like the one person in the universe who could be trusted.

Each of the Lords and the messenger bowed before their Great Leader. Even Romana stood up, and paid his respects to Naganemnom.

"But, it must just be coincidence that this information has come to us at the time we need it the most," said one of the Lords: Hughes.

"Really? There is no such thing as coincidence. Time creates its own path to make the future inevitable," replied Naganemnom, still smiling.

"What should we do then?" Lord Vorok asked Romana.

Romana looked over to Naganemnom.

"I need command of both the Dark Veteran squads, in addition to those of the First Company. I have a plan, but the men will need to be completely prepared for the assault."

"They won't need to be prepared for the battle," replied Naganemnom confidently, "Their own determination to end the war will keep them aware and valiant. I will join them in battle, as I know that Belial, their Great Lord will be there. It's what must be done."

"Are you sure, sir? Would it not be wiser to have our men ready for the battle?" asked Romana.

There was a pause, during which Naganemnom glared at the High Lord.

"No," Naganemnom said slowly, "you will do as I say. And also, Lord Nasher, I need you to send a message to Commander Rufidus Citrus. I need to see him urgently in the Tower of Dawn, but you will need to inform him that he and his squad will be joining me in the frontal assault."

"I shall do so, right now, my lord," replied Nasher, heading towards the door and bowing before stepping out.

"Now that's being sorted out, I am going to call this court adjourned," said Naganemnom, "You're all dismissed. Good luck."

-X-

Citrus stared out of the glass window in the gravity pad that was taking him to the top of the Tower of Dawn. A Kallacal bird flew past the window, and glided over the tall surrounding buildings. Citrus watched the creature and noticed a white stripe on its back, as it continued to soar onwards, above the Hall of Justice, and off towards the mountains. He smiled sadly to himself. Something inside him was saying that the news that his Great Lord needed to tell him of wasn't good; but also at the same time he felt that the new wasn't going to be bad. It just did not make any sense.

The pad reached the top, and Citrus stepped out into a small chamber. In fact, the chamber wasn't small; it was tiny. He noticed that half of his body remained unable to fit inside the room. Over everything else, Citrus least expected the tower to be this small. Finding it hard to breath, he quickly pushed against the wall in front of him, and found it gave way, to open like a door. Stepping though, Citrus now found himself in a room only a bit larger than the last one, but at least this one could fit about two people inside; which was clarified by the fact that Naganemnom was already up here waiting and they were both able to stand about a metre apart.

"Ah, Citrus," said Naganemnom looking over his shoulder at him, "I'm pleased that you came."

"It's my pleasure, sir."

"Take a seat," Naganemnom said indicating the only seat in the room, "and I'll get straight to the point."

Citrus sat down, and waited for Naganemnom to continue. Naganemnom turned back towards the wall and clicked his fingers. The walls suddenly turned from their solid concrete form into glass. Citrus looked round, and saw the Kallacal bird he'd seen earlier fly past the window.

"You are to follow in my stead."

Naganemnom's words shocked Citrus; one, from being distracted at the time, and two, from the fact that it was completely unexpected that Naganemnom would have asked him.

Citrus blinked hard, as though trying to see if he was dreaming, yet he wasn't.

"I'm sorry, sir? Can you say it again, I'm unsure of whether I heard you correctly or not."

"You heard me right, Citrus. You will take my place as the Space Lord God, when I pass from this world. But that's not all. In twenty days time, someone will appear to you. Do as they say, and you will live. If you fail to do so, everything will fade from existence."

"Sir, you're not making sense. I don't understand."

"You don't need to know. You will understand when you meet him. My time is soon, that's why you are to take over from me. But, we will meet one last time after my passing."

"Sir, I…" Citrus began.

"… Citrus, you must trust me here," said Naganemnom, turning and looking Citrus in the eyes. There was something about them that Citrus found comforting, as though, as long as Naganemnom was alive everything would be okay.

"I do, sir," said Citrus after pausing for a second.

"Then be prepared. Everything is going to change, for both us and the enemy."


	4. Fallen Warrior

Fallen Warrior.

The battle had been raging for a few hours now, and over everything the Space Lords were winning! The enemy's forces were just too weak! It didn't make any sense, it was just too easy.

Naganemnom had gone on ahead, whilst Citrus and the rest of them held off the soldiers that were guarding the temple which the Chaos Space Lord God, Belial, was residing.

Citrus could feel that there defiantly was something wrong. But what? What could it be?

"Skree," Citrus called as he plunged the blade of his sword into the enemy soldier he was fighting, "call for a relief force to take over for us. I believe that we should go and see if Naganemnom has found Belial yet."

"Will do sir," Skree replied.

After about five minutes, two troop carriers began to appear flying towards them. Carma and Brom pulled out flares to signal where the carriers could land, whilst the rest of the squad gave them covering fire. As Citrus took aim and fired at the enemy, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Mace was clutching at his head and was squeezing his eye closed, as though he was having a headache.

"Mace," Citrus called to him, "are you alright?"

Mace opened his eye.

"_It is time, Mace" came a whisper. A whisper from a voice Mace had come to know all to well; Belial's, "The time has come for you to begin to take your vengeance upon those who caused you pain."_

Citrus watched as Mace straightened up, and turned towards him.

"I've never been better," hissed Mace, picking up a plasma pistol near him. Mace quickly spun on the spot, and pulled the trigger as he aimed at Brom. The beam of energy shot through the air so quick, it was almost impossible to see. As the bolt hit Brom, he let out a cry of pain, which stopped straight away as he crumpled to the floor in just a mass of armour and bones. As quick as a flash, Mace had already taken aim and fired at one of the carriers as it just began to land. The beam, once again, hit its target. The left engine of the vehicle exploded into a ball of fire, and the carrier came crashing down, almost on top of Skree, who dived out of the way of Mace's next shot, once more just missing by an inch.

Mace quickly turned back to face Citrus, and took aim. But Citrus had already acted. Pulling out his own command pistol, he fired, but not at his chest or head, but at the gun. The bullet from the command pistol hit the plasma pistol, and knocked it flying out of Mace's hand. Mace took a step back as all of them turned and aimed at him. As he stood there, he just smiled.

"I believe that your Great Leader is in need of some support," hissed Mace once more. Then before any of the men could react, Mace had turned to smoke and was gone.

"Why the hell did that bastard do that? Why?" yelled Carma, as he stood over the remains of Brom's body. As the troops from the lasting carrier, Citrus turned to face the temple that Naganemnom had gone into.

"Come on," he ordered them, as he began to walk off towards the building. The men followed, and as they did, Citrus whispered to himself:

"I can't believe it. Why, old friend… why?"

-X-

The door burst open. Citrus, Skree and the rest of their squad charged into the room with their swords ablaze. Swinging the blades they cut down their enemy with ease. Then, as they continued forwards with the momentum they had, they saw the two omnipotent figures of their leader, Naganemnom, and his adversary.

The Chaos Space Lord God, Belial, looked towards them and suddenly they were knocked off their feet, and landed with a crunch, that echoed around the hall. Belial turned back to face Naganemnom.

"You were foolish to try and face me on your own," he said with a snarl, "you're not going to survive."

"I already know my fate, as do I know yours. But now we fight with our own powers," replied Naganemnom, holding up the Eye of Insight in his hand.

As if in response to this, Belial held aloft his staff. Citrus began to feel the room starting to shake. Suddenly, all the glass in the windows above them shattered, yet instead of falling to the marble floor it all began to glide as if the gravitational pull of the planet had been cancelled out. Rubble and bodies lifted off the ground, but both Naganemnom and Belial stayed held in place.

However, when Citrus looked over to his leader, he noticed something was wrong. The Eye of Insight shattered abruptly into thousands of pieces, and Naganemnom flew backwards with immense speed, hit the wall behind him and was held aloft against it, by Belial's power.

Gradually, Belial walked over to where his opponent had stood, still looking at him, and then he began to laugh. Citrus's blood went cold as he began to see Naganemnom turn steadily to dust. As his body dispersed into the air Naganemnom turned his head, and looked at Citrus.

"Don't let them consume him," he said, and his voice carried on throughout the building in an echo.

Naganemnom closed his eyes and smiled, before he burst into a cloud of dust, and was gone.

"NO!" yelled Citrus, as everything came crashing back down to the floor.

Jumping to his feet, and seizing the nearest blade, he dashed towards Belial. Belial looked at Citrus and laughed, before vanishing in a whirlwind of black smoke.

"There are many more you will lose, Citrus," whispered Belial's voice, in a hiss, starting with Mace."

"What do you mean?" Citrus yelled at the emptiness.

"He isn't with you any more. He has joined us."

"No, he won't have. He never would," he shouted back once more, but this time no reply came.

After a couple of seconds, Citrus walked over to the pile of dust that was Naganemnom. Sinking to his knees, he yelled out in anger. Each moment that passed seemed to last a lifetime.

Everything went silent.

"What can we do now?" he asked himself, as he looked around at his unconscious comrades.

-X-

For the first time in weeks, since the beginning of the war, the Council Halls and the Temple of Peace were empty. The silence throughout the buildings was immense. A group of Kallacal birds took flight off the top of the Tower of Dawn, and flew off towards the hills. The Caidoz River was flowing quickly along within its banks, as though it was eager to reach the Amabo Sea. White clouds drifted across the mountains as a fog began to engulf the city of Oiprocs. The sun was slowly drifting of to the horizon, about to tuck itself behind the mountains, and continue on round the world. The rays from the sun filled room at the top of the tower, lighting up every dark spot. The day of Naganemnom's ceremony was almost over, and the light was about to fade from the world altogether. But, just like the sun, something would happen. The light would return to the world again, and this time it would not fade. The day was ending, and the ceremony had finished. The city was empty, and for the first time since the beginning of the war, everything was peaceful.

-X-

Citrus sat in the Hall of Justice with a look of solemn on his face. Although the war, and the battles against the Chaos Space Lords continued, back on Notforc, the planet's inhabitants were paying their respect the their fallen leader. Three days after Naganemnom's passing, Citrus had been given full command of the Space Lords' forces as their 'Great Leader', and now on the forth day, as he sat there, he wished over everything else, that he didn't have to follow the path that was now set out before him. Naganemnom had told him that once Citrus had become the Space Lord God, he would understand what must be done to end the war. The fate of the universe now rested on his shoulders, and no matter what, he couldn't fail. He couldn't let the planet become over run by the enemy; not like their old home: Ultramar.

They had to flee the planet. So many of those living there had perished, and many soldiers had given their lives to protect those that managed to escape. But now the planet was a floating piece of rock, stripped of all life, and just left uninhabitable, by the Darkness that had consumed it.

Nineteen days had passed since Naganemnom had told Citrus of his fate, and now only one remained before the ending would come. But still a bigger question lingered in Citrus' mind; could Mace be saved.

He had heard Naganemnom say: 'don't let it consume him.' Did that mean that Mace was continuously changing inside, and that there was still a chance to save him? Whatever happened, Citrus wasn't going to give up on his friend. He would save him, and free him from the Darkness.

-X-

Mace looked out around at the army that stood before him and his master. Six billion men: imagine the destruction he would create with this force at his control. Each and every single man, weapon and vehicle was his to command, and he would make them pay; all of them. Citrus, Skree, Carma, Torosa; each one, would all perish at his hand. But not before he'd made them suffer, and wish they'd never been born into this world. Citrus would be the first. No matter what, Mace wasn't going to fail. Everything was ready.

"I know what you plan on doing, Mace," said Belial, "go ahead. The plans for revenge are your own, so you choose what and how you do it."

"Thank you, my master," replied Mace, "I will take my leave then. I have an old friend's wife and son that I need to visit."

And with that, Mace turned and began to walk away, before evaporating into smoke.


End file.
